Ukraine Submits Bill Extending Chornobyl Decommissioning Program to 2036

Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers, having approved the draft law on July 15, 2026, formally submitted a bill (registration No. 15513) to the Verkhovna Rada on August 9, 2026, extending the National Programme for decommissioning the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant and transforming the 'Shelter' object through 2036. The bill was initiated by newly appointed Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi and specifies UAH 50.8 billion (about $1.1B) in total funding — UAH 45.6 billion from the domestic state budget and UAH 5.2 billion in international technical assistance — and adds new tasks and measures to repair the New Safe Confinement arch's structures, which were damaged by a direct Russian drone strike in February 2025. The programme's stated objectives split into two tracks: continued active decommissioning of the original reactor units and the long-term 'shelter transformation' of the damaged confinement into an environmentally safe system. Engineering and preparatory work is planned through 2027, with active construction beginning in 2028 and full restoration still targeted for 2030 for the NSC repairs specifically, while the broader decommissioning programme itself now runs through 2036.